Seven Years of Ruling
by Mushmallow62
Summary: Sequel to Another Dragon and Dragon's Rule. Ryuuga has ruled over all for some time now, though Ryuuto wants to have his own protege and Tsubasa? Well right now the eagle blader isn't part of the elite group any more.


Seven years after Ryuuga had dominated the world, Ginga has gone, Kyouya is too weak and now no longer has his Leone bey due to Tsubasa finding where Benkei had gone into hiding.

Kenta was still training hard with the trio, although Ryuuga left most of the training to Ryuuto now instead of Tsubasa, due to the other, who most people called Ryuuga's twin; at least those who saw him, those who knew them both were aware that Ryuuto was the polar opposite of Ryuuga. He was kind and caring, although like Ryuuga he could easily become obsessed with something.

Although they had gone through every country, every city and town to find strong bladers, none were a challenge to them, in fact it was pathetically easy for Tsubasa and Ryuuto to defeat them, never mind Ryuuga.

However Ryuuto did find someone who caught his eye, a sandy haired blader who upon first watch didn't look that special but given that he had battled and defeated everyone in the city was someone he would look closely at.

The Dragonis blader kept himself hidden as he watched the youngster battle other bladers who tried to defeat him, although it became obvious that they were losing their nerve to defeat him.

"He could battle Ryuuga," One of them flippantly said while his friend punched his arm.

"Sshhh! You don't know who can hear you!"

"Like anyone would bother," He said with a shrug, both unaware that the sandy haired blader was walking by them.

"It's foolish to even think of anyone being stronger than the Dragon Emperor, be grateful that they don't patrol these regions as much as they did before," He scolded them and the two boys back away.

"But Shinobu..." A young girl came up to him, although she looked like a young boy it was her voice that gave her away, Shinobu looked at her; "They might have just reduced their patrols,"

"True,"

"But what if..."

"No one is strong enough to defeat him," Shinobu said with a shrug; "And why would anyone want to? It's not nearly as bad as it was all those years ago,"

"I guess," She said with a sigh and noticed the look Shinobu gave her; "I just wonder what life would be like if that other blader, Ginga won," She admitted with a slight shrug, she knew such thoughts could be treason but she figured that she was no threat to the Dragon Emperor and it could never happen anyway.

"Don't bother with that, its just a 'what if'," He told her and walked away, with her following at his heels; "I just wish there was some fresh challenge around, no one seems to be willing to get stronger any more,"

"That's because of the Dragon Emperor," She said simply as if it was obvious.

"What are you talking about Mal? He's got three powerful bladers at his side why..."

"If you gain enough power to warrant the attention of the Dragon Emperor himself he'll want to see what you can do and then train you himself,"

"There's no one here," Shinobu told her with a shrug and then stopped, with Mal bumping into him as someone stood before him; "You're..." His green eyes widened in surprise and Mal looked to see who he was talking to.

"That's..."

The white haired man with the red streak shook his head; "I'm not the Dragon Emperor," He grinned; "I'm Ryuuto, the Dragonis blader and left hand of Ryuuga,"

"Ai, the _left hand_ of the Dragon Emperor?" Mal repeated, astonished and he nodded, still grinning.

"Why are you here?" Shinobu finally asked, wondering what made him come down to Metal City.

"A challenge,"

"A challenge?" He repeated and starred at him.

"Yea, Ryuuga... I mean the Dragon Emperor might have removed those who threatened his rule, but that doesn't mean we want every blader to be weak,"

"How can I be a challenge to the Left Hand of the Dragon Emperor?"

"Right now?" Ryuuto shrugged; "You're not, so I am going to offer something to you. Join me,"

"What?"

"What do you mean?" Mal asked him curiously, although she was just as surprised as Shinobu; after all the Left Hand of the Great Dragon Emperor was before them and _asking_ for Shinobu to join him.

"Well I need a protege too," Ryuuto told them; "And I think you could do it,"

"Me?" He stared at the older man in front of him; "Why me?"

"Why not? You are the strongest in the city, you've defeated everyone with ease,"

"But... There would be other bladers out there," He began and Ryuuto cocked his head at him.

"If you would rather not be part of it, that's okay. I'm not going to make you do anything if you say no," Ryuuto assured him and then after a moment added; "How about you think about it?"

"Shinobu?" Mal looked up at him, wondering what was going through his head.

"All... All right. Give me a few days to think it over," Shinobu said with with a small nod, although on the inside he was feeling overwhelmed.

_This can't be right..._ He thought to himself in disbelief.

Ryuuto grinned and left them alone, making his way back to the 'palace' as it was known when he caught sight of another blader, who appeared to be just as rough and determined as Ryuuga was been, defeating all those who opposed him without a care, blowing his opponent's bey's out of the dish as well as the bladers themselves.

"Who are you?" A blonde haired boy ask as he began to back away.

"Sakyo," He replied simply as another blader challenged him although it obviously annoyed him, but Ryuuto found it interesting to watch him battle.

_Huh, what's the harm in offering something to him as well? There is a chance that Shinobu won't want to work alongside me._ He watched Sakyo battle and was impressed at his skills, even more so that his bey was also left-rotating and called Black Knight Dragoon.

As Sakyo finally walked away, having defeated every blader who dared to challenge him Ryuuto made himself known and just like Shinobu, the red haired male just looked at him in surprise, however he seemed aware as to who Ryuuto was.

"You are the Left Hand of the Dragon Emperor?"

He smirked and nodded; "Yup, so Sakyo, how do you fancy a chance of being trained by those higher up?"

"Higher up?" Sakyo repeated and just looked at him wearily.

"Yup, you seem like a strong blader," Ryuuto offered; _And the fact that you have a left-rotating bey will interest Ryuuga._

"I suppose," Sakyo began and paused for a moment to look carefully at Ryuuto.

"I'll give you a few days to think about it," He told him with a shrug, giving him the same time period as Shinobu; "It's a big commitment after all,"

"Indeed, a few days then," Sakyo told him with a short nod and Ryuuto walked away, please with his two finds.

_And now to report to Ryuuga._

X

"A left-rotating bey?" Ryuuga checked that Ryuuto was telling him the truth and the younger blader nodded.

"Yup, called Dark Knight Dragoon,"

"Interesting, he's strong you say?"

"I think he could be stronger," He admitted and then added; "There is also another blader.."

"I thought you were doing a patrol not looking for bladers to join us?" Ryuuga scolded him/

"I was! But he caught my eye, I want to train him myself," Ryuuto said with a smile.

"_You_ want to train this blader?" Ryuuga just looked at him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Yes, he's strong, he's defeated every blader around. He asked to think about it,"

"So there is a chance of him saying no," Ryuuga told him and he nodded; "So you might not be able to train him at all, unless you are being hopeful," He said bluntly, not wanting to hear any disappointment from the other dragon blader.

"Well of course I am being hopeful. You have Kenta as..." He looked around but Ryuuga just nodded at him to continue, right now he didn't care who heard him speak; "Kenta's is your protege, why can't I have one too?"

"All right," He nodded, deciding that Ryuuto did have a point.

It did make sense for him and possibly Tsubasa as well, to have their own protege's. The only problem would be that there was always a chance that the protege will go off on their own and rebel.

It wasn't likely to happen with Kenta; as both he and Madoka had been getting along just fine with his ruling now and they had never rebelled in any way, there wasn't even a whisper of it. Kenta was getting stronger all the time, yet never as much as he was; however this new dragon blader made him curious.

_Let's see if they will join us._

He was curious and he knew that Tsubasa wasn't going to be around for too long, the eagle blader wasn't aware of it completely but Ryuuga could tell that he was getting ready to rebel, although he wouldn't allow that to happen, which was why he no longer allowed him to do as much training with Kenta and Ryuuto took over most of the patrols.

Although he did wonder about Madoka and who she would side with when the time came for Tsubasa to rebel, it was the one thing he wasn't sure on, however he was sure he would manage even if they didn't have her around.

X

It was a few days later when Ryuuto returned to the park, surprised to find that the sandy haired blader was waiting for him, with the pink haired girl standing next to him.

"So you made your choice?" He asked him.

"I have questions first," Shinobu told him and the white haired blader nodded; "If I join, will I be allowed to leave?"

"Leave, no," Ryuuto said seriously; "Unless you mean to see your family, then yes, however if you are training to me you'll be traveling a lot anyway,"

"Traveling?"

"Yup, I'm not here as often as everyone thinks, Ryuuga likes me to travel around and seeing what is happening,"

"Does he not have ambassadors in every country and city?" Mal finally asked, surprised at what he was telling them.

"He does, although he doesn't want them to stay there, he wants those he can trust, so I get sent out to make sure everything is going smoothly,"

"So I will train in different terrain as well," Shinobu stated and Ryuuto nodded; "I have one condition,"

"A condition?" Ryuuto looked surprised and then noticed how Shinobu indicated to Mal; "Oh,"

"I don't think..." Mal began as Ryuuto crouched down to her level; "Er..."

"You had a laptop out the other day when he was battling, so you have data on his battles and those in the area right?"

"Yes," She squeaked, not sure if this meant she was going to get into trouble with him or worse, the Dragon Emperor.

"Great!" He said cheerfully and she jumped in surprise; "We already have a tech, but we'd probably need another," he stood up and nodded; "So, are you coming?"

The two looked at each other and Shinobu nodded before he stopped and noticed someone walking towards them; Ryuuto just looked over his shoulder and smiled before turning to face the other fully.

"Oh good, you're here too,"

Sakyo looked at Mal and Shinobu before his gaze went back to Ryuuto; "So, all of us are going?"

"Well yes, since you are here I take it you are wanting to join us then?"

Sakyo just nodded and they all followed Ryuuto to the former Dark Nebula tower. Mal just looked around her in awe and bumped into Shinobu as they stopped before the grand doors that Ryuuto pushed open to reveal Kenta and the Dragon Emperor Ryuuga.

The trio just looked at him, all sensing the intimidating aura he had around him as he walked towards them, with Kenta following behind him.

"You said two blader's Ryuuto," He looked at his so-called twin with a glare but Ryuuto just smiled cheerfully and nodded.

"Yea, but she gathers up data like Madoka does," He shrugged and then continued; "I figured she could learn more from Madoka, we can't just rely solely on her; it's a big job for one person, there needs to be more,"

Ryuuga just nodded and looked at the two males before him, the young girl no longer something he had to be concerned about.

"This is Shinobu, he's my protege," Ryuuto told him and Ryuuga gazed at him, impressed that Shinobu barely flinched, although he did look away after a moment or two.

_I suppose it is just as well Ryuuto will train him._

However he found that Sakyo kept his gaze, staring right into him and he nodded; "Well it looks like you might have found some worthy bladers,"

"Might?" Ryuuto scoffed; "I bet these two will be..."

Before he could finish his challenge however Madoka ran into the room and they all looked at her.

"Tsubasa has gone,"

The look in her eye told Ryuuga that Tsubasa hadn't just _gone;_ he'd rebelled, something that he always knew would happen and he sighed in annoyance.

"All right," He then looked over at the young pink hair girl and glanced at Madoka, gesturing for her to come over; "This is your apprentice, teach her all that you can,"

"Ryuuga," Madoka just looked at him, startled that he wasn't declared a hunt on Tsubasa right away.

"Kenta, you can begin training with him," He nodded to Sakyo and Kenta lead him away to one of the training rooms and then he looked at Ryuuto.

"We need to stop him," Ryuuto finally said.

"No, _I _will stop him," Ryuuga correct him and then continued; "Looks like the darkness has either lifted or he has managed to balance it," He shrugged; "Doesn't matter, I will make him regret betraying me,"

"But he knows your every move," Ryuuto pointed out, which was true, Tsubasa did know a lot of Ryuuga's battle techniques.

"And counter points," Madoka said softly; "I... I didn't know..." She suddenly became rather fearful when she realised what she had done, not realising that Tsubasa hadn't asked information about Ryuuga's techniques out of interest but for a way to _defeat _him.

"So he is aware of how to stop certain attacks huh? Then he'll be trying to recruit someone to stop me," Ryuuga growled and she flinched but he didn't direct anything more to her and looked over at Shinobu and his Left Hand; "Tch, Ryuuto go and find him. Bring him back,"

"Right," Ryuuto nodded and gestured for Shinobu to follow him out of the room.

"You told him everything?" Ryuuga turned to the woman behind him.

"I didn't think he would do this, he's not strong enough..." Madoka tried to explain, but she knew it was her fault and she should have thought of it when Tsubasa asked about it. She had known that he was acting differently recently but she gave no thought to it.

"True, but he'll find someone strong enough to defeat me," He pointed out to her and she nodded slowly.

"But you now have Shinobu," Mal finally spoke up and they looked at her; "He's a strong blader..."

"But he wouldn't as strong to battle Ryuuga," Madoka told her gently, believing that Tsubasa right now had the edge over them.

"But he'll be training with Ryuuto," She pointed out.

"Tch, she's right, if Tsubasa finds someone to try and defeat me, he will need to train them harshly," Ryuuga finally said with a small smirk to Mal who quickly looked away from him, not sure how to take him.

"And if Ryuuto is on his tail," Madoka said.

"Exactly," Ryuuga nodded; "Now you can take her with you,"

"So I have an assistant now?" The brown haired woman looked at the young girl and smiled slightly.

"Yea, Ryuuto said she can help with the data or whatever,"

"I'm Madoka," She introduced herself and Mal smiled introducing herself as well and they walked out of the room, leaving Ryuuga alone to his thoughts.

_Looks like trouble will begin, if I know Tsubasa I would say he found someone well before he left us, he's probably been training them the basics. That just means our two new recruits will need to become stronger in a faster rate of time. Maybe this won't be too bad then, a bit of trouble brewing could be good._ Ryuuga smirked at the thought and left to train on his own.

X

As the two of them walked, Shinobu found that he had to jog at times just to keep up with Ryuuto and in the end he had to grab his arm just to get him to stop.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"How fast do you walk?" He panted out and Ryuuto smiled.

"Sorry, I forget that I had company, been doing this kind of thing alone for so long," He shrugged and began to walk at a slower pace.

"So why has Ryuuga sent you out?" Shinobu asked and then blushed slightly before correcting himself; "I mean the..."

"Stop, when you are part of our circle, the _elite_ you can call him by his name... " Ryuuto told him and trailed off before saying thoughtfully; "Maybe not to his face just yet. You still need to prove yourself,"

"I will,"

"I know you will, because you're with me," Ryuuto told him cheerfully; "And right now we need to find Tsubasa,"

"And turn him to Ryuuga,"

"No, regardless of what Ryuuga's orders are, we can never get Tsubasa back there,"

"But why did he say..."

"Right now I need to slow Tsubasa down and figure out what he is planning," He looked at the sandy haired blader, his amber eyes full of seriousness; "And we have the element of surprise. Ryuuga is assuming that Tsubasa has been looking around for other bladers for him to train, probably even having a head start compared to us,"

"So is recruiting myself and that other guy just in retaliation?"

"Nope, I picked you both because you are both strong bladers. Which Ryuuga wants and I wanted a protege,"

"And I am meant to be your protege?"

"Yup," Ryuuto told him with a grin.

"But why me?"

"Because you..." Ryuuto trailed off; "All right like I said before when you battled you reminded me of Tsubasa, he's usually calm and collected when he battles, which we need, plus I think you'd like what I do... Well maybe not all of it," He shrugged, getting the feeling that Shinobu wouldn't like his side career of being a treasure hunter too much.

"So you think I could handle your responsibilities?"

"Yup. Ryuuga needs more people to over look around the world and he needs people who can deliver, which I believe you can,"

"Of course I can!"

"Good," Ryuuto looked ahead and frowned; "I see him, go elsewhere," He shooed the sandy blader away who did as he asked, going into the small village and not seeing the exchange between the two former colleagues.

The white haired blader walking over to Ryuuto, although he was careful, his bey and launcher ready for an attack.

"I'm surprised Ryuuga hasn't come down to drag me back, or to destroy eagle," Tsubasa commented.

"Well it took a bit of persuasion but he let me come instead," Ryuuto lied, but he knew Tsubasa wouldn't notice, since he and Ryuuga had become a lot closer in the past few years while Tsubasa had begun to distance himself from everyone.

"So why don't you join me? You know the way Ryuuga is making this world isn't the way," Tsubasa told him and Ryuuto nodded slowly, he saw an opportunity and held out his hand to him; "Then leave him and join me, I have found a new blader with as much spirit as Ginga had,"

"It's risky," Ryuuto confessed and looked away from him for a moment; "I mean once I cross the line I will be hunted down, and it's easier to find me than it is for them to find you,"

Tsubasa nodded in understanding, since he was now being hunted down, but he would be able to go into hiding; "Then become a spy, keep an eye on what is going on there,"

"I... Guess..." Ryuuto pretended to think about it.

As this was going on Shinobu met up with Zero who acted a bit of an upstart and didn't appeal to the sandy haired blader at all.

_Rude blader. _Shinobu thought to himself as he got ready to battle him, not noticing the small crowd that came around them as they began to battle.

The crowd cheered on Zero, obviously more aware of him though it didn't deter Shinobu who kept focused on the battle at hand and was able to avoid Zero's special move and had his own bey slam into his numerous times before slamming him out of the dish.

Zero just looked at him in disbelief while Shinobu just picked up his bey and walked away, hearing from the whispers around him that Zero was the blader that Tsubasa was training for some reason.

_He's got skills, but they aren't up to much right now._ Shinobu thought to himself, walking out of the little village to meet up with Ryuuto, who looked rather somber as they left to go back and report to Ryuuga what they had learned.

"Did you find him?" Shinobu finally asked as they made their way to the airport.

"Yea, he's got his reasons for doing it..." Ryuuto trailed off, wanting to know what he had found out and looked at him; "What about you?"

"I think I battled his protege," Shinobu told him and the look the white haired man gave him was one for him to continue on;"He could be great, but right now? He's nothing to worry about,"

"So he _could _be a problem," Ryuuto sighed as they finally came up to the airport; "Tsubasa asked me to be a spy."

"What? But he knows that if Ryuuga were to..." Shinobu began to speak and noticed the look that crept on the other's face.

"I have a better idea," Ryuuto smirked at him and Shinobu could see a resemblance between the man in front of him and the Great Dragon Emperor; "I will spy for Tsubasa, but not in the way that he thinks,"

"You'll double cross him?"

"Yup, and this also means that you will join me, we can find out what they are up to together,"

"So..."

"You'll be getting stronger alongside Tsubasa's protege," Ryuuto said with a small nod.

"All right... It'll be interesting to see what his skills are and to see if mine improve,"

"Don't show him everything though," Ryuuto advised and he nodded.

"I won't... You know this will only happen _if_ Ryuuga allows it?"

"He will, trust me. I know him, he'll agree,"


End file.
